Concert Review: Eric Clapton – Blossom Music Center 5/31/08

Clapton is God

I saw Eric Clapton this past weekend, hoping to recapture a bit of the “pinch yourself because it’s so unbelievably good” feeling that I got from last year’s Chicago based edition of Crossroads Guitar Festival. Crossroads 2007 will go down unquestionably as one of my favorite concerts that I’ve been lucky enough to attend.

Crossroads was the concert that made me a believer again in Eric Clapton. After the past few tours that had seen Clapton mellow out quite a bit, Clapton was back and rocking with young gun Derek Trucks helping out quite a bit for a band that with the inclusion of Doyle Bramhall II, was nearly unbeatable with their three-guitar arsenal on stage.

Sadly, Trucks was absent this time around – and I had been looking forward to seeing him play with Clapton again, so I was a tad disappointed, although Clapton quickly erased that disappointment as soon as he started playing.

Here’s my review for Cleveland Scene

I first saw Clapton in 1992 at the dearly departed Richfield Coliseum, and I feel fortunate to have seen the truly legendary band lineup featuring bassist Nathan East, guitarist Andy Fairweather Low, drummer Steve Ferrone (with Tom Petty these days,) Chuck Leavell on keyboards, and the unmistakable Ray Cooper on percussion.

I saw musical stars that night as Clapton and his band ripped through an incredible set for anyone in attendance, but certainly for someone like me, seeing EC for the very first time. Just take a brief gander at a sample setlist from the tour. Unbelievable!

The Blossom show on Saturday night was very cool. Similar to seeing Springsteen at the same venue in 2006, it was cool to see Clapton at an outdoor venue for the first time. And for anyone that was there, it was the first time in a long time that Clapton had played Blossom – 18 years to be exact!

I’ve got my fingers crossed for a return engagement with Trucks, some time soon!

Relevant Links:

Official website